Hotel workers return to work after days of picketing; walkouts still possible

Hundreds of hospitality workers who walked picket lines over the holiday weekend, targeting 19 Southern California hotels, were back on the job today, but union officials warned that more work stoppages could occur at any time.

Workers represented by the Unite Here Local 11 union went on strike at 6:01 a.m. Sunday, and picketing continued through the Fourth of July holiday at hotels in Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Orange County and elsewhere.

The workers returned to their jobs Wednesday, but the union insisted that doesn't mean the strike is over. The union's Maria Hernandez said the first round of picketing targeted 19 hotel properties, but workers at 41 other properties are poised to walk off the job — something she said could happen "at any moment."

In a statement, union officials said the holiday walkout "marks just the first wave of strikes and disruption by hotel workers across the region. Workers will not rest until they are paid a wage that allows them to live in the communities where they work."

The contract between the hotels and the union expired at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, although the union reached a deal last week with the largest of its employers, the Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites in downtown Los Angeles.

"The mass walkout marks just the first wave of strikes and disruption by hotel workers across the region. Workers will not rest until they are paid a wage that allows them to live in the communities where they work. We know the industry can do this - last week, Los Angeles' biggest hotel, the Westin Bonaventure, agreed to the wages workers need. Now it is time for the other corporations to follow suit. We are grateful for the extraordinary solidarity we have received. This is just the beginning," said a statement from UNITE HERE Local 11's Maria Hernandez. 

Contract agreements are unresolved with the remaining hotels.

Officials have said the hotels will remain open with management and other nonunion staff filling in. There has been no word of any renewed contract talks between the union and the Coordinated Bargaining Group negotiating on behalf of the hotels.

Representatives for the hotels accused workers of being inflexible in their demands.

According to the Coordinated Bargaining Group, it has been bargaining with Unite Here, Local 11 over the past several weeks on a new labor agreement to replace the current agreement that expires on June 30.  

An overwhelming 96% of union members approved a strike authorization on June 8.

Union officials say that numbers reflected in a recent survey of members details that more than 50% have moved in the past five years or plan on moving in the near future because of the soaring housing costs in Los Angeles and the surrounding area. They feel that the current rate of pay is far from enough to live, as most members currently earn between $20 and $25 an hour. 

Negotiators are working to secure for an immediate $5 hourly raise with an additional $3 an hour in subsequent years, along with improvements in health care and retirement benefits.

Keith Grossman, an attorney with one of the two firms representing the hotel coalition, told the Los Angeles Times that employers have offered raises of $2.50 an hour in the first year and an additional $6.25 over four years. 

A statement issued by Grossman, on behalf of Coordinated Bargaining Group, said: 

"We welcome our employees back to work and the end of the work stoppage at those hotels. If the Union takes employees out at other hotels, those hotels are well prepared to service guests. As we have said repeatedly, the Coordinated Group has not canceled meetings, only the Union has. We are ready to meet and hope Union leaders can focus on our employees and reaching a settlement and get back to the bargaining table."

Unite Here Local 11 represents up to 15,000 workers employed at about 60 major hotels in Los Angeles and Orange counties. The workers include thousands of cooks, room attendants, dishwashers, servers, bellhops and front desk agents.

"This walkout was the first of many actions that may come this summer by workers at hotels across Southern California, and it is only one tool in our toolbox," Unite Here Local 11 President Kurt Petersen said in a statement. "We have put the industry on notice that the workers have suffered enough."